Super Bowl Sunday!!!!

Growing up I was not a fan of the Super Bowl. Despite being a cheerleader for a few years, I just could never get into the game. Then in college (and for some years after) the Super Bowl conflicted with my birthday - some years being the same day. That is not the best way to turn me into a fan! Finally the NFL wised up and pushed it back a week. Now I can enjoy my birthday weekend AND top off two months of gluttony with a big greasy finish.

Of course you don't have to go crazy on the calories for the Super Bowl. My contribution to the festivities in 2012 was a wonderful Jalapeno Popper Dip. I found the recipe on Pinterest and then changed a few ingredients to lighten it up. It was delicious!

Last year's dish was a take on the classic sliders and the calorie content was not as closely monitored. If you are hosting a large party, this particular dish is great because it stays warm in the slow cooker so people can help themselves!

Cheeseburger Bites
From Pillsbury Fast Slow Cooker Cookbook

This recipe includes my changes. One the major changes was that I doubled the recipe. The existing recipe only called for 1 lb of meat for 24 burger bites. This was just over a tablespoon per bite. I couldn't imagine anyone (especially guys) that would use so little! I also changed the cooking time thanks to the reviews on the website. 3 to 4 hours sounded crazy!

Bites
2 lb lean (at least 80% - I used 90 or 95% lean) ground beef
4 tablespoons ketchup
4 teaspoons instant minced onion (I didn't have minced onion so I finely chopped some onion and sauteed it before adding the meat.)
2 teaspoons yellow mustard
16 oz (2 blocks) cheddar cheese, or whatever cheese you like (the recipe called for American and I used 1 block of cheddar and 1 Monterey Jack), cut into 2 inch cubes
24 miniature burger buns

Toppings
Dill pickle chips
Sliced plum (Roma) tomatoes
Shredded lettuce (I used butter lettuce from a bag of salad.)
Additional ketchup and mustard
Other toppings you enjoy - I also provided relish, sauteed onions, and mayo.

1. In 10 inch skillet, cook beef over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in ketchup, onion (unless you cooked fresh onion with the meat), and mustard.

2. Spray 3 1/2 to 4 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Spoon beef mixture into slow cooker. Top with cheese.

3. Cover; cook on Low heat setting for 1 - 2 hours. Check at one hour to see if the cheese is melted. It may still look "cubed" but if you start to stir it the cubes fall away. I found that mine was ready in a little over an hour. With occasional stirring, this dish will hold on Low heat for several hours. Eventually I did turn off the slow cooker and with the lid on it stayed warm. It can burn if left on for too long.

4. Serve with the buns and toppings. Either assemble yourself or create a buffet for guests to top as they desire.

Photo courtesy of Pillsbury as I forgot to take one.

Looking for some more great recipes for the big game? Thrillist posted some great recipes earlier today. You can find them here.


So now that you have your food squared away, you need to think decor. Here are a few easy ways to dress up your Super Bowl party.

Free Signage
There are a number of free Super Bowl printables available online. You can do a simple search via search engine or Pinterest. This set from A to Zebra Celebrations is both simple and cute. Here is a sample of what you will find.

Make Easy Signage
I made this little sign to fit the Tolsby frame from IKEA. A simple font was used so that anyone attending the party could make one for their dish. Just pulled the Super Bowl logo online and added a border and a text box in Word. Super simple!

Double Duty Decor
Get this great cylinder set from IKEA and fill with a variety of items including football shaped chocolates and plastic football or helmet rings. Guests can snack on the chocolate and wear the rings!

Hope you have a great Super Bowl Sunday and that you win your score square! If you have some favorite dishes for the Super Bowl, be sure to share them below!

Turkey Day Cocktails

Last week I shared with you a couple fun ideas for Thanksgiving tablescapes using the same products on each table. As promised, I am pleased to share some delicious cocktails to make your Thanksgiving more festive! The two recipes I am sharing today are for Apple Cider Margaritas and Lingonberry Royales. Both are drinks I have successfully served at previous Thanksgivings. The Lingonberry Royale has been a recurring Thanksgiving drink whereas the Apple Cider Margarita was inspired by my initial discovery of Pinterest!

Apple Cider Margaritas
This recipe is modified from the recipe on How Sweet it Is. Photo credit also goes to this site as I was too busy drinking margaritas to take a photo! I changed this recipe due to cost of ingredients as well as simplicity in serving for a large crowd. The margaritas in the original recipe would need to be individually made and at an event with over 20 people that was not realistic. The portions below are for one drink so multiple for the quantity of drinks/size of pitcher.

1 ounce Citronge
1 ounce gold tequila
5-6 ounces apple cider (I used both Trader Joe's Spiced Cider and their Pear Cinnamon Cider and thought both were great.)
orange wedges
sugar (coarse preferred)
cinnamon
ice

1. Mix Citronage, tequila and cider together in a pitcher. I recommend having the cider chilled in advance.

2. Mix sugar and cinnamon together and place on a saucer. This will be used to rim the glasses. I did a 50/50 mixture.

3. Take a glass and rub the lip with an orange wedge. Dip the glass lip into the cinnamon sugar mixture. Squeeze the remaining juice from the orange into the glass and toss the wedge into the bottom of the glass.

4. Fill the glass with ice and the tequila mixture. Enjoy!

Lingonberry Royale
This is a take on the classic Kir Royale. If you have never tasted a lingonberry before, I like to say that they taste like a cranberry and a raspberry had a baby but in reality it is probably more like a tiny cranberry. Sounds perfect for Thanksgiving doesn't it!?!? I get the lingonberry concentrate from IKEA however if you don't have an IKEA handy you can order from Amazon. I think an unsweetened cranberry juice (or at least a naturally sweetened - NOT cranberry juice cocktail) could probably work in a pinch as well.

lingonberry drink concentrate
water
sparkling wine

1. Mix 1x lingonberry drink concentrate to 2x water. Keep in mind that you will end up with 3x the amount of lingonberry so choose your proportions carefully. The water is key in order for the concentrate to mix with the sparkling wine. Otherwise it is too heavy and does not mix well.

2. Place lingonberry mixture in a champagne flute (to taste) and top with sparkling wine. Serve!

 

NOTE: Not an actual photo of a Lingonberry Royale however a close approximation.

 

 

What will you be serving with your Thanksgiving dinner? Do you have a favorite seasonal cocktail?

 



She's Crafty! - DIY Personalized Name Art

Today I'm sharing a simple, personalized art project that makes a great gift for friends and family. I made my first one about 10 years ago and over the years made them as the "inspiration" struck. About a year ago my friend Joy insisted that you would all love this idea as much as she did and that I should do a blog entry to share. So nearly a year later I'm finally doing it! This project doesn't really have a name so we'll call it "DIY Personalized Name Art."

So the heck is DIY Personalized Name Art you may ask? Here are some samples of some of my past projects.

 

Ben, Whitney & their Wedding Date - I originally created the "Ben" for my brother for Christmas. His fiance (now wife) liked it so much that she had her sister create the other two pieces to match. They displayed them at their wedding reception and now have them hanging in their dining room.

 

 

 

Gina - I created this for Gina's birthday last year. Gina is actually an Emmy nominated hair stylist so the "Gina's Beauty Salon" was a perfect fit! The first "Gina" was actually from another salon called "Gina's of Beverly Hills" which is located on Crenshaw - so very far from Beverly Hills!

 

 

Megan - When Megan saw the "Ben" piece she had to have one too. Megan isn't the easiest name to find naturally. I drove across town to find the "Megan" at the top of the piece - it was on a realtor's sign. "Pic-a-nic" was on the Yogi Bear movie sign and is one of Megan's nicknames so it was a perfect addition to the piece.

How to Make Personalized Name Art

1. Find signage with the names you are looking to use. It's actually quite simple to make these pieces - finding the names themselves is the most difficult part! When I see names of friends or family, I generally take photos of them regardless if I plan to make them a piece in the near future. You never know when the inspiration or occasion will strike! When I traveled to Australia last year, I took a ton of photos "just in case" since some names are more common there than here.

2. Take the photos. I always take photos of each sign from a variety of angles to give me the most options when laying out the piece. As you can see, I favor "Dutch" angles but like to include one that is straight on when I can. Usually the structure of the sign dictates which photos ultimately look best.

3. Choose your frame. All of the frames above are RIBBA frames from IKEA however you can utilize any frame design or size you desire. I like these frames as they are inexpensive but are also clean lined to not distract from the piece itself. Please note that the openings in this frame are not standard 4x6" in size. I usually purchase 5x7" photos with the white border and they fit perfectly.

4. Edit the photos. I usually end up editing multiple photos of each name to find the best combination. While your preferences might be different, I make the photos black & white and generally crop in tight on the person's name. Sometimes I leave more of the sign in the photo but it has to fit properly and add something to the piece. "Gina's Beauty Salon" is a great example of this. I also really liked that there was a Ben Avenue so I left that one too.

5. Print photos & assemble. This part is pretty self explanatory and is the best part because you can see your vision come to life!

I hope this will inspire you to create simple yet impactful personalized art for your friends and family! If you make a piece, please share with me below. I would love to see your interpretations!

The Bachelorette Dinner, Part 4

Last week we skipped dinner due to scheduling challenges but that doesn't mean we needed to skip dessert! Popsicles are a quintessential summer treat and so easy to make yourself. Plus homemade popsicles are much more nutritious than the store bought variety. A few months ago, I shared my simple recipe for yogurt popsicles during The Bachelor Dinner, Part 3. This time the pops are dairy free and have only two ingredients!

Simple Strawberry Popsicles

Note - Quantity of ingredients will vary based on the number of popsicles and size of mold.

Fresh Strawberries

Sugar Free Lemon-Lime Flavored Sparkling Water (seltzer water can be substituted but you will need to add a bit of sweetener)

1. Place clean, de-stemmed strawberries into blender.

2. Add sparkling water until the berries are half covered.

3. Blend to your desired consistency and add more water if needed.

4. Strain seeds if desired.

5. Pour into popsicle molds.

6. Freeze.

I created this recipe when I had strawberries to quickly use up but I think it would work well with other fruit/water combos. Blueberry and lemon sound particularly good to me!

My molds were from IKEA but I found these cute molds at Bed, Bath & Beyond and Amazon.com.

Has anyone else created any fun popsicle recipes this summer? Are you too busy or lazy to make your own popsicles? Check out Trader Joe's Peach Pops!

A Trip to the Alter on a Budget

No, I have never been married myself but I been planning events since there were events to plan. Massacre Ball for Middle School Halloween? Yep, that was me. Ok, I don't think we ultimately were allowed to call it that but my chalk outlines of dead bodies made the cut complete with a blood pool. While I don't suggest that you go this route for your wedding (though for some this might be ideal), I thought I would share some links and ideas to help avoid your trip to the alter making a serious dent in your wallet.

Plan a Wedding for Under $10K

I think this link is a great place to start if you are on a budget for your wedding. It offers suggestions for all of the major wedding expenses which is helpful to find places to save even if you have already started making commitments elsewhere.

Etsy.com

Personally I have not spent a ton of time on Etsy but that is only because I know I will spend a TON of time on Etsy once I start. I assisted a friend of mine with some wedding planning a few years ago and she managed to find some amazing deals on Etsy. For example, she found a vendor to make a lovely birdcage style veil for around $50 that looked exactly like the one we found in the bridal salon priced at $250. She also purchased several pieces of wedding jewelry as well as custom designed martini glasses for her bridesmaids all from Etsy. You will be amazed at the quality (and quantity) that is available on this site. Here are a couple items I found with just a quick look:

Hand Decorated Cake Ball Truffles - 1 Dozen $20

These would be lovely on a sweet table, as a favor, or at a shower.

Custom Save-the-Date Card - Design $15

This particular designer has a variety of options and customizable templates. Once your design is complete, you are sent the final version for printing at your favorite local print shop or for an additional cost this designer can arrange on your behalf.

Idea - Cylinder Centerpieces

These Fillable Cylinder Centerpieces from The Knot.com are a useful addition to any wedding and at $5.75 a piece they are a steal. I have seem similar items at Bed, Bath & Beyond; Crate & Barrel; CB2; and IKEA but I think this looks to be the best set as they have actually been designed to work together. I have found others to be too large to sit on a table and/or the variance in height to be too great. There are so many options with these types of cylinders - candy station, candles, or florals just to name a few. Below you can find a version of a classy yet simple arrangement I often see in luxury hotels. The site I grabbed the photo from has instructions if you wish to recreate and can be found here.

Budget Weddings Magazine

Another great resource right now is the current publication by Woman's Day magazine titled "Budget Weddings". It is most likely to be available at bookstores and other locations that have a large selection of periodicals.

There are lots of ways to save on events and weddings are no different. Hopefully if you or someone you know finds themselves planning a wedding on a budget some of this information will be helpful. If you have a particular question about working around a budget with a specific aspect of your wedding, feel free to contact me and I will try to help!

More event and entertaining posts will also be coming your way in the near future! In the meantime, does anyone have any helpful cost saving tips they used at their own wedding? What about thoughts on must spend items?